Weekend Recap is presented by Iris Optometry.
Coming off two great wins at home over Coquitlam in their return from the holiday break, the Kings headed over to Island to face the Grizzlies and Capitals to kick off 2024.
Friday they were in Victoria to take on the Grizzlies as they were looking to win for the first time in the provincial capital for the first time since 2019. It would be a tough start for the Kings as Will Jones took a hit early in the opening period that took him out of the game as the Kings would have to go on without their All-Star. It would be a challenging first period as they were out shot 20-11 but it was scoreless.
In the second the Grizzlies would strike three times to take a 3-0 lead but the King would get on the board when Anthony Lucarelli knocked in a rebound which would be his 100th point in the BCHL. The Grizzlies would ruin the celebration with a power play goal not too long after as they led 4-1 after two periods. The home side would continue to pour it on in the third scoring 3 more times to win -decisively 7-1.
On Saturday the Kings headed to Duncan and the Cowichan Community Center which is the only road building the Kings have won in this season. Will Jones returned after leaving Friday’s game but suffered another injury in the opening period that took him out o
It would be a difficult start with the Caps taking a early 2-0 lead with one goal taking multiple deflections on the way to the net and the other being coming off a broken play as the Kings trailed by two after the opening twenty. It would be a good start to the second for the Kings when Anthony Yu scored a power play goal going five hole on Cody Butikis to cut the lead but the Capitals took the two goal lead back with a power play goal of their own. Later in the period the Kings would have a couple defensive miscues leaving players all alone in front and the Capitals would take advantage on two occasions by scoring two identical goals with a pass to the open man in front. It was all Capitals after two periods as they led the Kings by four.
Facing a big deficit in the third the Kings regrouped in the intermission and came alive in the third. After killing an early penalty the Kings would go back to the power play and scored their second goal when Simone Dadiè pick the corner for his third of the season. Then two minutes later Anthony Lucarelli fed Théodore Jetté in the right circle and he hammered home a one timer to score his first BCHL as the Kings cut the Capitals lead in half just 6 minutes into the period. Continuing to press the Kings would get another power play with under 5 minutes left and would score once again when Anthony Lucarelli batted the puck out of mid air for his team leading 14th and all of a sudden the Kings were now down by one. With under two minutes left the Kings pulled Owen Crudale to get the extra attacker but Matthew Swanson would fire a puck from his own zone into the empty cage for the insurance marker with 1:48 left. Now down by two late the Kings didn’t give up and with the extra attacker Anthony Yu would snipe his second of the game with 33.7 seconds left to get them back withing one, however the Kings couldn’t muster any more offence and the comeback came up just short as the Caps won 6-5.
Anthony Yu finished the game with 4 points and Anthony Lucarelli had 3 points himself as he extended his point streak to 9 games which is the second longest active streak in the BCHL. Will Jones did return in the game on Saturday after leaving Friday but the return didn’t last long as left the game in the first period with another injury and new forward Colin Ratt left the game in the second period after a dust up with Brady Yakesh and did not return. Their status for next weekend is unclear at this time.
After a disappointing weekend the Kings sit 9th in the Coastal Conference with a record of 7-21-3-0 and sit two points back of 8th place Langley and three points behind the Capitals.
Up next the Kings are back home for two games against the Alberni Valley Bulldogs who make their first of two visits to Powell River this season. The games are Friday the 12th and Saturday the 13th. Both are at 7pm.
Massullo Motors Highlights – www.powellriverkings.com/highlights
